DISPATCHES FROM THE ARID LANDS

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Sgt. Bergdahl

President Obama can do nothing right, according to conservatives. Scandal at every turn. Benghazi, the IRS, you name it. Obama can not so much as twitch a finger without complaint from Republicans who scream at times for his impeachment. This is a well-thought out strategy by the GOP to, among other things, make sure that no other person of color ever becomes President again.

The latest “scandal” drummed up by the right is the return of the POW, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for five Taliban prisoners.

It was Republican strategists, according to the New York Times and Huffington Post, who arranged a media interview yesterday with one of Bergdahl’s critics, former medic Joshua Cornelison, who branded the sergeant as a deserter and responsible for the deaths of as many as eight soldiers who searched for him.

“Yes, I’m angry,” Cornelison was quoted as saying. “Everything we did in those days was to advance the search for Bergdahl. If we were doing some mission and there was a reliable report that Bergdahl was somewhere, our orders were that we were to quit that mission and follow the report.”

The Pentagon says Cornelison’s accusation of deaths attributed to search missions is not supported by facts after a review of its casualty database.

In another arranged interview, Cody Full, also a member of the platoon, accused Bergdahl of being a loner. “He wouldn’t drink beer or eat barbecue and hang out with the 20-year-olds,” Full said. “He was always in his bunk. He ordered Rosetta Stone for all the languages there, learning Dari and Arabic and Pashto.” Accused of being a loner!

Even if these nebulous statements are true, what difference does it make even in the case of the “related” deaths? Soldiers take orders. They do not get to choose their missions. They can not act as judge and jury or whether it was right to search for Sgt. Bergdahl. American soldiers bring their own back home, no matter what. Soldiers take orders. That’s what they do. War zone or not.

The bottom line is this. No matter how we feel about President Obama, we should wait for the facts on Sgt. Bergdahl’s release before forming concrete opinions. So far we have nothing substantial to work with.